Carolina Panthers Expected to Have New Plan for Deploying Tetairoa McMillan

An NFL insider revealed one thing the Carolina Panthers want to change with wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan in his second season.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ahead of his second season in the NFL, the Carolina Panthers are looking to add a new wrinkle to wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan's game.

According to NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe, the Panthers plan to utilize McMillan in the slot more this coming season.

"Keep an eye on Tetairoa McMillan playing more in the slot this year. Obviously they used him in the second half of the year at times there, but they believe their young receiver, Chris Brazzell, will be able to play a little bit outside, which will give T-Mac an opportunity to really thrive inside."

Wolfe goes on to add that McMillan's size, which has increased after he added some muscle this offseason, will help him be a problem on the inside.

"(The Panthers) think his size will be a big asset. From what I udnerstand, he put on about eight or nnine pounds of muscle this offseason. That gives him a lot more physicality to line up in that slot, where they can use his skillset to take it to the next level," Wolfe added.

At 6-foot-5 and 212 pounds, you wouldn't normally think of the young Panthers star as a slot receiver, but he did see 19.9% of snaps in that spot in 2025.

McMillan actually thrived in the slot in college after he totaled an impressive 4.2 yards per route run over 303 routes from the slot throughout his last two seasons at Arizona.

That said, his slot opportunities will be somewhat limited because of the presence of Jalen Coker, who should also have a big role in Carolina's offense as the primary slot receiver. Coker played 58.4% of snaps in the slot and 39.7% out wide.

Of course, Brazzell is going to line up on the outside for the vast majority of his snaps at the next level. A whopping 93.4% of his snaps in college came from that spot, as opposed to just 6.5% inside.

It never hurts to throw different things at defenses and clearly the Panthers are intent on doing just that by deploying McMillan in the slot more during the 2026 season.